Santorum invokes the Almighty

Can Rick Santorum get his wish and force a brokered convention in Tampa? Mitt Romney’s campaign said it would take an “act of God” for Santorum to secure enough delegates to win the nomination, and last night Santorum seemed to side with the former Massachusetts governor.

“One of my opponents recently said that it would take an act of God for me to win this primary. I agree with him,” Santorum told the congregation at an evangelical church in Puerto Rico.

Santorum would have to win nearly 70% of the remaining delegates in order to secure the nomination, and as long as Romney is in the race that’s close to impossible.

On the other hand Romney needs to get nearly half of the remaining delegates in order to win the nomination. So there is a chance Santorum could block him and force a brokered convention, meaning none of the candidates received the 1,144 delegates needed.

Wait a sec. Is he saying God wants a brokered GOP convention? That’s just bizarre — and a far cry from saying he felt “called” to run for president or that he prayed for guidance. Even (especially?) to religious voters, this is audacious, if not blasphemous.

But it is par for the course. Santorum seems to have confused his own ambitions with what is good for the party and the country, not to mention what the Almighty supposedly would root for. This is a common affliction among politicians, but it is rarely expressed in such blunt terms.

Frankly, it is incumbent on Santorum and those rooting for a brokered convention to make the case that selecting a candidate whom the voters did not choose, waiting until August to choose a nominee and allowing the president to cruise through the summer are all worth it and will actually enhance the GOP’s chances against President Obama. But this is daft, of course.

Whatever you call it — divine intervention or simply mischief-making — it boils down to this: Santorum would rather create chaos and damage his party’s prospects for taking the White House than concede he’s not going to be the nominee. He can do what he pleases, but it takes some gall to claim God would be on his side.

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